Coldhearted
by SaiHeroic
Summary: Beruka has never known much about emotions, but lately a certain someone has been drawing her attention. The first of three stories revolving around Beruka/Oboro. F/F Contains support spoilers for Oboro and Beruka.
Greetings to all of you, I am Sai.

Welcome to my first non Fairy Tail story. So I've been playing Fire Emblem Fates a lot lately. Like an excessive and unhealthy amount. It's a great game.

Uh yeah. Enough fangasming let's get into the story! This will be told from Beruka's point of view and the sequel will be from Oboro's.

*Warning if you haven't seen Beruka's and Oboro's supports in Fates this story will have spoilers! Also contains some spoilers for the Revelations story line.*

* * *

Beruka had been feeling restless lately. She had been trained from a young age to not feel emotions. To her the only thing that mattered was completing the contracts she was hired for. She was an assassin. She was a coldhearted killer. She knew that someday, there would likely be a contract for someone to kill her, it happened after you worked in this occupation. After killing so many, it would only be a matter of time until someone would want you dead. There were plenty of reasons too. Confidentiality, revenge, secrecy, or to dispose of a potentially dangerous tool.

These were things Beruka had always known. After all, she had killed her own master, the man who raised her, with her own hands. It was the job she was hired to do, and so, she did it. She never failed her jobs. This was how her life was.

Recently though something unusual had occurred. The armies of Hoshido and Nohr had come together to fight against some hidden and unknown foe. Beruka didn't care much about the details, all she had to do was kill, that was all she ever had to do. That was, until she had a chance meeting.

Not long after joining the ranks she was confronted by a Hoshidan spear fighter named Oboro. Oboro had learned that Beruka was an assassin and had come to her asking questions. Oboro's parents had been killed by an assassin when she was a child while they were passing through Nohr. And, as fate would have it, the man responsible for it was the same man who had raised Beruka. When she learned this Beruka had been prepared to fight Oboro, however Oboro hadn't acted as expected. Rather than getting angry and attacking Beruka, she simply said that she would have no choice but to give up her revenge. After all, you can't get revenge against someone who is already dead.

This event had resulted in an usual feeling in Beruka. Lately she felt her eyes drawn to Oboro whenever they were nearby. It wasn't from fear or anything like that. No, it was an emotion that Beruka couldn't identify. She felt somewhat responsible for the events of Oboro's past but she had been raised as a tool for killing and so she struggled to she pity or empathy. People often said she was cold or emotionless and to Beruka these were compliments. But lately, she had begun to wonder if there was more life than just being a tool. Selena her fellow retainer was often running around and being noisy and confrontational. While their personalities contrasted, the two worked well as a team. So, while Beruka wasn't really comfortable trusting others, she decided to seek advice from Selena.

"Oh I see", said Selena with a sly grin on her face. "I can tell you exactly what your problem is." Beruka had visited Selena in her room to talk with her. They were sitting across from each other at a small table with Beruka staring at Selena intensely.

"Really? Then please inform me at once so that I can deal with it", replied Beruka.

"Deal with it? I don't think it will be that simple. You see Beruka what you are experiencing is something known as love." Selena pointed at Beruka and smiled while declaring this. "You finally started to awaken to your girly side."

"Love? Please don't joke around. I can't possibly be capable of that kind of emotion."

"You think so?" Selena looked at her friend carefully. It was true that she had never seen Beruka display much in the way of emotion, but she was convinced that her friend was in love. This was such a rare situation that Selena could not resist messing with her friend. "You said you always glance at this person when they're nearby right? That means your conscious of them doesn't it?"

"Selena, we've known each other for some time, you should know better than most that I'm not the kind of person to develop emotions of that sort." Beruka flatly rejected the idea. There was no possible way that she would be capable of something like love.

"Just hear me out. If this person has caught your attention and you find yourself stealing glances at them, doesn't that you are interested in them. Sure it might not be love right now, but you clearly feel something for this person right?

"I would appreciate it if you didn't take your jokes so far. If you aren't in the mode I can just go ask Lady Camilla."

"Even if you did I bet she'd tell you the same thing. But let's go ask her if you want." Selena let out a sigh as her friend moved to leave the room. Getting up, Selena followed Beruka as they headed towards Camilla's room.

* * *

-Camilla's quarters-

"Oh, I never thought I'd see the day my dear little Beruka fell in love for the first time", shouted Camilla upon hearing what Beruka had to say. Her face had a gentle smile on it a she stared at her subordinate.

"I told you", said Selena throwing Beruka a sideways glance. Beruka simply returned her look with her typical flat stare.

"Lady Camilla, I don't mean to be rude, but surely you aren't serious. There's simply no way for someone like me to be in love. You know what kind of person I am, things like emotion don't exist for me."

"No, no, no that is simply not true my dear. I've seen you display emotion several times you know. You get angry when you make mistakes, and you get frustrated when I tease you. Now who is this person you are talking about anyway, perhaps I can help you out?"

"She didn't tell me either." Said Selena who was clearly interested in the identity of the person. "So Beruka who is this person."

Beruka had hoped to avoid revealing the name of the person, because in had to do with her past and she wasn't particularly fond of her memories. "Is it really that important?" Camilla and Selena didn't respond but merely stared at her urging her to answer. Finally giving in she said, "Oboro."

"Oboro? Is that a man from the Hoshidan army? I'm surprised your interested in someone from outside of Nohr." Stated Camilla.

"Lady Camilla, uh, Oboro is a woman actually", said Selena a bit hesitantly. Her excited expression from before had changed to one of confusion. Her gaze kept shifting between Beruka and Camilla.

"A woman?" Camilla thought for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "Well there's nothing wrong with that. After all there's no helping who we love. I want you to know that you have my full support in this Beruka dear."

"R-right." Beruka rarely found herself at a loss for words but at the moment she just wanted to end this conversation. "I'll be taking my leave then." Beruka moved towards the door and turned to glance at Selena.

"You can go ahead, I need to speak with lady Camilla about something in private."

Beruka bowed to Camilla as she stepped out of the room. Her mind was turning over the idea that the two had suggested. The issue of Oboro being a woman was apparently not a major conern for those two. Well truthfully, it didn't bother Beruka either. If two women wanted to be together than it was none of her business.

But, love. Beruka understood what it was, but she couldn't say whether or not she had ever felt love for another person before. She cared for Camilla and Selena to an extent but she always kept a comfortable distance when talking with them. But, when she talked with Oboro she had felt the other woman's emotions clearly. Oboro was very expressive with her emotions and she wasn't afraid to speak her mind. As someone who never really showed what she was feeling, Beruka envied someone who could be so open about what they liked and disliked.

It was already evening and the sun was just sinking over the horizon as Beruka made her way across the castle grounds. As she was walking she noticed a familiar silhouette by a nearby building.

"Oboro", mumbled Beruka.

Although there was some distance between them Oboro seemed to have noticed Beruka's presence and she turned to face the other girl. The two locked eyes for a few moments before Beruka turned and continued walking.

"As I thought, Selena and Lady Camilla were completely wrong. The distance between she and I is how things should be." Beruka muttered as she made her way back her room. The entire time she couldn't get the idea out of her head and she was so caught up thinking about it that she didn't get any sleep.

* * *

\- Several days later -

Beruka had avoided Oboro as much as she could during the past few days. However, because they balanced each other well they were often paired together in battle. Beruka didn't trust people to protect her normally, but she couldn't shake the feeling of safety she had from fighting alongside Oboro.

Outside of battles though, Beruka tried to avoid the other woman. Whenever Beruka spotted her she felt an uneasiness come over her and she wanted to get away. Oboro seemed to have noticed Beruka's strange behavior though and she decided to deal with it.

*Knock knock*

Beruka heard a knock on her door one evening while she had been in her room resting. She got up and opened the door to find Oboro on the other side. For a moment she had the urge to slam the door shut and retreat back into her room but she resisted.

"Hello, did you need something."

"Yeah, I was wondering if we could talk, you've been acting strange lately and it's worrying me. Do you mind if I come in?"

Beruka hesitated a moment before stepping aside to let Oboro in. Beruka's room had only a small dresser a bed and a table with a single chair. She didn't see any reason to have furniture she wasn't ever going to use.

"Your room is as plain as I could have expected."

"This is everything I need."

"I suppose."

"What did you want to talk about", asked Beruka who was fidgeting a little in place. She wasn't used to having people in her private quarters so she was feeling a bit more conscious than usual.

"About you actually. Lately whenever we see each other you run off like you've seen a ghost or something. I know my face isn't the most pleasant to look at, and I sometimes make a really scary face but I get the feeling that's not the problem here. Considering how things have gone so far, I would expect we will continue to be paired in battle, and I need to know if something is bothering you because I'm trusting my back to you."

Beruka was surprised that Oboro trusted her to watch her back. Given their history and what had happened between their 'parents' Beruka had expected Oboro to resent her. Oboro had even told Beruka before that hunting the person responsible for her parents death was one of the primary reasons that she had become a soldier. Normally one would think that, that resentment should be targeted at Beruka, but Oboro held no grudge and was even willing to trust her.

"Well? I know you aren't talkative, and there is a dark past between us, but right now we are at war and we can't let personal feelings get involved. If I can't trust you to protect my back then tell me straight out."

"I understand." Said Beruka, "you're right I've been behaving out of character lately. To be honest it's because I don't know how I should act around you. Even after you learned that the man who raised me was responsible for the deaths of your parents, you bore no grudge against me. Any normal person would resent me. Not only that, but I also killed my master denying you your chance for revenge. Despite that, you've been friendly towards me and are even willing to trust me. How? Why? I can't understand these things."

"Uh, well it's not really that complicated." Oboro scratched her head and thought for a moment before answering. "The person who raised you is the embodiment of my hate but you killed him. I've been thinking about it, and perhaps it's better that I never got to have my revenge. If I had, perhaps you would have had to try to kill me. So... it's not like I hate you or anything, my hatred towards your master doesn't really have anything to do with you. It's not like you had a hand in my parent's death after all. Plus, we've fought together a lot right? We both recognize that the other is a strong fighter and at the moment we are fighting towards the same goal."

"Even if we are fighting together now, I wouldn't hesitate to kill you if I was hired to. You say that your hatred for my master doesn't shift to me, but I'm no different than he was. I earn my keep by killing people from the shadows. If I were a bit older I could have been the one to kill your parents, and I wouldn't hesitate to do so. Can you really say you trust me even after hearing that?"

"I can. I wouldn't expect you to reject a contract if you were hired, but you're a professional right? If you want to kill me there's plenty of chances for you to do so. And, even if you could have been the one to kill my parents, the fact is that you weren't. As for killing me, isn't the reverse also true? I protect your back in battle right? What if I did want revenge but lied to you to get you to let your guard down?"

Beruka hadn't expected the situation to reversed to her like that. Had she ever felt that Oboro would stab her in the back? No, she had even felt comfortable having Oboro nearby. Was that how Oboro felt about her? Could you really trust someone who was able to admit that she would have no issue stabbing you in the back for the right price?

"I think I understand. Even if it is illogical, I admit I have felt comfortable with you watching my back. I don't have any reason to trust you, and I usually make a point of not trusting others. I don't quite understand it but, I can see the logic in your argument. But, you also aren't the kind of person who would kill someone just for money, while I am. That distinction still exists." Beruka had to admit that she had perhaps been too focused on their past. The sins of the parents don't necessarily fall to the children, although in Beruka's case many did.

"True. But, there's still some unresolved stuff between us but that can wait until we are done with this war. Until then I won't be letting myself die, even if you come after me."

"Heh. You really are an unreasonable person." Beruka couldn't help letting out a sigh at the other woman's conviction. "Very well I'll trust my back to you, and you trust yours to mine. If nothing else, you've caught my interest so if someone wanted me to kill you, they would have to pay quite a bit more now."

Oboro smiled at Beruka's comment. "Well then I'll try not to disappoint you. After all, you've caught my interest too. Our personalities are completely opposite but I think our talks like this give me a chance to look at my flaws. What do you say we have talks like this every once in a while?"

"I believe that could be mutually beneficial. After this war is over I expect things will be more peaceful. Perhaps... it will be an era where assassins like me won't be necessary. I've never regretted killing and I take pride in my skill, but I don't necessarily take pleasure in it. I suppose a time may come where I need knowledge of things outside of killing."

"Well... if you ever want to look for a different skill set. I could teach you about tailoring. You're pretty dexterous so I bet you wouldn't have any problems learning to do it."

"I suppose so. I believe I would be better suited to physical tasks. In any case, I'll think about it for now."

"Yeah? Well I'll take my leave then, I ended up talking for quite a bit longer than I had intended, and if I take much longer I'll be doing chores until the sun comes up." Oboro shifted around stretching her limbs. "Feel free to come talk to me whenever, alright."

"Mm." Beruka opened the door for Oboro and the two parted ways with a nod.

Later that day Beruka thought back on the conversation and she couldn't believe how much she had talked. She was still convinced that what she felt wasn't love, but she definitely felt a strong emotion towards the other woman. However, she decided that her emotions would sort themselves out in time so for now she would just keep going about her life as usual.

Her relationship with Oboro was an unusual thing for her. This was a chance for her to finally break out of her shell and open up to somebody else. Beruka felt herself smiling for the first time in many years.

* * *

So how was it? There was a whole lot of dialogue between the various characters wasn't there. I hope I managed to make them stay in character as best as possible. While this was supposed to be F/F there wasn't a whole lot of progress on the relationship. Well I can handle that in the sequel I suppose. Until next time, have a wonderful day.


End file.
